The invention pertains to a round bale press with a pressing chamber, which is surrounded by compaction elements and with a tying apparatus that wraps twine on the circumferential surface of a rotating bale made in the pressing chamber, and in particular to apparatus for securing the loose end of the wrapped twine to prevent the twine from coming loose from the bale.
Conventionally, round bales are tied with twine in round bale presses in order to prevent the harvested crop from falling apart after it leaves the pressing chamber. The twine is only loosely wrapped on the peripheral surface of the bale with the end of the twine lying loose and untied. Therefore, it can happen that after ejection of the bale from the pressing chamber, depending on the turning direction of the bale, the twine becomes unwrapped and the bale falls apart, or that the loose end of the twine becomes an impediment to further handling of the bale.
DE-A-41 32 664, discloses two devices by means of which the twine end can be secured on the bale, one device acting to pressing the twine into the bale, and the second device acting to secure the twine in place with adhesive tape.
A German patent application, with file number 197 05 582.6, filed Feb. 14, 1997, and a corresponding U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/014,237, filed Jan. 27, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,166, issued Aug. 24, 1999, show a round bale press with a slot shaper, attached to resist torsion, that, in close contact with the revolving bale, cuts a slot or groove into the circumferential surface of the bale in which the loose ends of the twine are held by a friction fit.
The problem with this invention consists in the fact that this method of securing the twine is relatively complicated.